I write to tell you my experience of this service offered by the Tourist board. My friends and I participated on this tour as some of them had come from abroad.
From the very beginning it was a total disaster. We only saw three  pandols, - at Galle Face, Maradana and Dematagoda. As the bus was so high, we could not enter James Peiris Mawatha to view the decoration at Gangarama as near the Nawaloka Hospital jets had been strung across the road. This same problem was encountered in many places. At the Malay street junction, entry was not permitted to Galle Face and we had to sit and wait in the bus for nearly 1/2 hr till permission was obtained from the Slave Island Police station. As no permission was given, we had to traverse once again back on Kumaran Ratnam Road .As such we kept on going round and round Union place and Kumaran Ratnam Mawatha midst of heavy traffic and congestion and seeing absolutely nothing. The tour was due to end at 10.30p.m. but we arrived thoroughly disillusioned at midnight. This was the most badly organized tour and absolute waste of time and money. If the Ceylon Tourist Board is organizing a tour of this nature it should ensure that the sights are accessible to the public considering the high price that one has to pay for the seat. We hope this year, it would be better organized.
Amali Perera